Dotson racing, others chasing: Longwood senior fastest returning 55-meter hurdler in the state
Lauterbach, Jordan. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 14 Dec 2018:
Jaheim Dotson remembers the feeling of awe as he stepped onto the track as a freshman and sophomore to race upperclassmen. As many track athletes do, Dotson has a supreme appreciation of the sport and enjoys watching a fast time almost as much as he enjoys running them.
Lately, he’s been the one running them. Now in his senior indoor season, Dotson is the upperclassman that others are watching. And those watching him aren’t just Long Islanders. No, Dotson is a state-wide name.
The Longwood hurdler is the fastest returning 55-meter hurdler in the state. He placed fifth in 7.56 seconds at the state championships last season but, with the top four gone to graduation, Dotson enters the winter at the top.
And he loves it.
“It does drive me,” Dotson said. “I know there’s going to be people after me because, even when I walk into meets, there’s kids saying ‘oh, I’m just trying to stay up with you. I’m just trying to stay right behind you and not be too far.’ “
Dotson remembers thinking those same sort of things about others when he was a younger runner. The presence of those more seasoned athletes pushed him to clock faster times. He only hopes he can have the same effect on others this season.
“It makes me feel good,” said Dotson, who also long jumps. “Because I’m at the top, people want to chase after me. It makes them determined to try and beat me, so they’re going to work as hard as I am.”
That’s not to say he wants to lose. Far from it. Dotson said he knows he has to work all that much harder to stay at the top. Just because he walked into December as a favorite doesn’t mean he’s going to walk out of March a champion. That uncertainty drives him.
“[It] makes me more dedicated and determined with what I want,” he said. “And what I want is a state championship.”
Dotson almost got one last spring. He ran a 14.61 to finish fourth in the outdoor state 110-meter hurdles championship and ran a 54.73 to finish third in the 400 hurdles – the top non-senior finish in both events. Ever the perfectionist, Dotson constantly is tinkering with his start. While a good start doesn’t necessarily make a race, a particularly bad one can break it.
“I was happy with my start [in spring], but not as much as I thought I would be,” Dotson said. “But looking at it now and talking to my coaches, they said I improved a lot.”
Last season as a whole was a revelation for Dotson. It was, he said, a year where he realized that faster times were probable and state championships were possible.
“I realized what I was able to do, so I took things a little more seriously,” he said. “Not too many people are able to have talent like this, so I took that recognition and prepped myself for next season and told myself that I would do better.”
Better might mean gold this season. Regardless, others are bound to notice.
Commack’s Czop is finally at the top: Senior gets first win and helps team take crown
Ruiz, Mike. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 20 Jan 2019:
Daniel Czop crossed the finish line, pumped his fist emphatically and soaked it all in. He’d just earned his first taste of victory for the Commack boys track team.
Making the momentous occasion even sweeter, the senior simultaneously became a league champion.
“I had never won a race before this,” said Czop, who picked up an electrifying victory in the 3200-meter run in 10.06.56, edging Ward Melville’s Harrison Bassin (10.06.89) at the Suffolk I championships at Suffolk CCC-Brentwood on Saturday morning. “So it’s a nice feeling to finally get that W.”
Czop concluded the day as a double winner, as he proceeded to win the 1600m as well (4:42.64). He said consistent training for a shorter race, the 800m, helped give him the extra boost that was needed in his dramatic initial victory.
“I’ve been doing a lot of 800-meter training this season and I think that helped me make that last little effort over the last 50 meters,” Czop said. “I was confident that if someone was gonna beat me today they would need to push a lot harder than I would.”
He helped lead Commack to the team title with a total of 95 points. Longwood finished second with 88, while Brentwood placed third with 69.
Another Commack runner, Vin Manna, also came up victorious for the first time on the league championship stage by taking first in the 600m in 1:27.64.
“As a senior, this was my last opportunity to do this,” Manna said. “In the years that I’ve done this, I love it. I just wanted to win for the team.”
Nicholas Scheiner of Longwood followed up Czop’s exhilarating win with one of his own in the 1000m, finishing in 2:38.39, just ahead of Patchogue-Medford’s Anthony Lazaridis (2:38.51).
“I was nervous during that race,” Scheiner said. “I fell back about halfway through and knew I had to pick it up. He has a great kick so I knew I had to catch him at the end. When I saw him on my shoulder I just put everything I had on the line and came away with the win.”
Scheiner later played a key role in Longwood‘s 4×800 meter relay victory (8:25.92) alongside teammates Julian Paez, Edmundo Porras and Justin Rajab.
The Lions also featured a double-winner in Jaheim Dotson, who took both the 55-meter hurdles (7.80) and 300m (35.82).
“I had to be strong mentally,” Dotson said after winning the 300m. “Because once you have that strength it will carry you through your race and help you finish.”
Other track winners included Brentwood’s Julio Rodriguez in the 55m (6.61) and Bassin, Caleb Wheeler, Dave Selzer and Owen Larson in the 4×400 for Ward Melville (3:38.85). Brentwood’s David Wood, Frank Grey, Saad Quadri and Rodriguez won the 4×200 (1:34.72).
In the field, claiming first place were Commack’s Steven Vasile in the shot put (50 feet, 0.5 inches), Ishiin Jackson of Floyd in the long jump (22 feet, 2 inches), Central Islip’s Davon Goode (42 feet, 0.75 inches) and Brentwood’s Elijah Logan in the high jump (6 feet, 1 inch).
Dotson a 3-time Suffolk winner: Longwood ace rolls; Huntington takes team title
Lauterbach, Jordan. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 02 Feb 2019:
Jaheim Dotson couldn’t sleep. At the beginning of the season, there was so much the Longwood senior wanted to do, and he only had a year to do it. It was, at once, exciting and daunting.
“I used to stay up all night thinking about what I had to do to become one of the best in the state and the county,” he said.
But soon, Dotson had a realization. He was still fast, still among the best short-distance runners on Long Island and, thusly, more than capable of staying at the top. It was then that Dotson said he returned to form.
“Now that counties are here and I’m facing better competition, I’m feeling a little more confident,” Dotson said. “The competition makes me want to push even more and makes me faster.”
Dotson’s default form is a winning one and, although he is a year older, that hasn’t changed. He wrapped up his final indoor county championships with three more victories, a 7.52-second triumph in the 55-meter hurdles, a come-from-behind 34.93-second win in the 300, and a 22-foot, 5-inch flight in the long jump at the Suffolk Large School track and field championships at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Friday night.
Dotson passed Huntington’s Johnathan Smith with 30 meters left in the 300, emerging victorious in a battle of two of Suffolk’s best athletes. Smith was second in 34.99 seconds.
“Johnathan is a wonderful runner,” Dotson said. “He’s just as good as me, so I knew I couldn’t sleep on him. If I did that, I knew he was going to win. So I wanted to stay cool, calm, and collected and run my race … I just had to shift to another gear and give it my all.”
Dotson’s 55 hurdles win was a little more dominant, with the senior capturing a personal best time and leaving no doubt as to his prowess in his signature event. Bellport’s Kyler Pizzo finished second in 7.88 seconds.
“I ran as fast as I could and pumped my arm as fast as I could through each hurdle,” Dotson said.
Huntington won the team championship with 77 points, a return to prominence after two indoor seasons without a county title. It was their first large school county title in program history, coach Ron Wilson said.
The Blue Devils took the first three places in the 600, with Isaiah James winning in 1:25.14, CJ Kiviat placing second in 1:25.51, and Justin Stevens taking third in 1:25.68.
The trifecta is exactly what Huntington wanted. Even among the top three places, the 600 was a competitive race. Kiviat passed James on the final lap before James took the lead back on the final straightaway.
“When we all came on the straightaway, I had the energy,” James said. “We said before the race that, once we hit that third lap, we would just give it everything.”
James, Stevens, Kiviat, and Smith also won the 4×400 relay in 3:31.61.
Elsewhere, North Babylon’s Christian Fils-Aime won the 55 meters in 6.52 seconds. After running a 6.73 in the prelims, Fils-Aime was placed in the fifth lane for the finals, a difficult, if not sometimes insurmountable draw.
“You know you’re not the favorite to win, so it’s a mentality kind of thing,” Fils-Aime said. “You keep your head in it. Right before the start, I said I was going to put as much as I could into this start and I jumped off with my full force.”